Picture this: two unlikely people meet, perhaps in a café or on a night out with their respective friend groups, and over the course of a few awkward encounters, they slowly fall for each other, with plenty of misunderstandings and charming moments along the way. The classic romantic comedy plot, one that we’ve seen time and time again, where you just know by the end they’ll be in each other’s embrace and their love for one another shining through the screen. It’s comforting and predictable — a genre that’s easy to tune into, without requiring much thought or emotional investment. But let’s shake things up and talk about when films are not comforting and predictable. Movies that you wish came with a seatbelt as the last turn can sometimes leave you flying into a rabbit hole on the internet trying to figure out what just happened.
Spoiler Warning for the following films if you haven’t seen them yet: The Sixth Sense, Fight Club, Shutter Island, and Knives Out.
The Sixth Sense by M. Night Shyamalan is one of the most notable films in this category. The film follows Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) as he helps a boy named Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) work through his ability to see ghosts. The tension really builds up in this film as Cole reveals more of his experiences with ghosts, leading to some pretty chilling moments. This all tied intricately with Dr. Crowe’s marital problems builds up for the final twist of the film, that Dr. Crowe has been dead the whole time. This buildup culminates in a key scene near the end of the film where Cole reveals to Dr. Crowe that he is dead, along with pieces of evidence that leave the audience wondering if they were ever really paying attention to the details of the film: Crowe’s inability to communicate with people effectively, him not being able to notice his wife’s wedding ring, his recent bullet wound that is perfectly healed and not causing him any pain, and his lack of a reflection in the mirror. This twist ending, however, is not just a surprise, but a revelation also. The twist recontextualizes everything that comes before it, allowing the audience to piece it all together in a way that changes the entire meaning of the film.
Similarly, the ending of Fight Club doesn’t just surprise its audience — it redefines everything the audience thought they had understood. The film follows an unnamed narrator (Edward Norton) and his struggles with modern life. He hates his monotonous life in the corporate world and has a strong hatred for consumerism. On a business trip he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), and let’s just say sparks fly. The two are a perfect match made in heaven, and they just get each other. Tyler is everything the narrator wants to be: charismatic, rebellious, and anti-establishment. They then start this fight club for men to beat each other in order to get out of their frustrations with the world. Things begin to get out of hand between Tyler and the narrator as the direction the club is going, is not something the narrator can continue to agree with. How strange, considering Tyler and the narrator are the same person! Not hinted at as much throughout the film, this twist has more of a deeper thematic purpose. It is a criticism of modern society, and identity crisis and self-repression being a commonality amongst people — after all, it was still a fight CLUB meaning there were more people than just the narrator/Tyler. This type of twist also invites its audience to a second viewing, and hopefully a reconsideration of the film — as films like this tend to be unforgettable.
Speaking of unforgettable, let’s talk about Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island — an exploration of madness and reality. The film follows the U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo Dicaprio) and his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) as they investigate the disappearance of a patient from a mental institution on Shutter Island. This film as it progresses begins to feel like a mystery that needs to be solved, with characters like Dr. John Cawley (Ben Kingsley) becoming the center of a conspiracy regarding his practice and possible shady behavior on the island and the missing patient, but Dr. Cawley is not the one audiences should be looking at. The shocking twist being that U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is really a patient at the institution, Andrew Laeddis, and is a part of a role-playing experiment created by the doctors at the institution. This twist leads audiences to not only question the plot, but their own trust in the narrative. Films with unreliable narrators, like Andrew here, can cause an outspread of questions relating to what’s real in the movie and what is for the comfort of the character’s own fragile state. In this film, it is revealed what led to Andrew being put into the institution was his wife drowning their children and him having killed her in retaliation. However, is this story just another one of Andrew’s self-deceptions to help him cope with this tragic event in his life? How do audiences even know that’s the truth? Well, I guess we just have to take his word for it.
But not every twist needs to be about psychological deception. In recent years, movies like Knives Out have redefined the twist ending making it feel less sinister and more fun. The film subverts the audience’s expectations of what is commonly known in the murder mystery genre and does a modern twist by revealing the murderer earlier on in the film, and changing the questions from “Who done it?” to “Why did they do it?”. From the start, Knives Out introduces the audience to a seemingly straightforward murder mystery: a wealthy patriarch, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), is found dead after his 85th birthday. The film starts with forcing the audience to suspect one of his family members or some random person killed him for money and that’s the end, but that’s boring. At a pivotal moment, we find out that the killer is not a mysterious figure from the shadows, but rather Marta (Ana de Armas), the nurse who was loyal to Harlan. Marta inadvertently administers the wrong medication to Harlan, leading to his death. However, she is manipulated into covering it up by Harlan himself, who decides to protect her from the fallout. This brings back the question, why? To protect Marta of course. Marta is a great nurse, and because of that she had never actually administered the wrong dose of medicine but was tricked into thinking so. It is revealed Ransom Thrombey (Chris Evans) had switched the labels on the vials in hopes of Marta confusing the two, and inadvertently killing his grandfather. While Marta did not end up killing Harlan, Harlan ended up killing himself by slitting his throat in an attempt to save Marta from persecution. Ransom being the (attempted) killer, however, is a very rewarding conclusion to those who pay close attention to details: Ransom’s disdain for his family, his genuine shock reaction to Marta being the sole recipient of everything in Harlan’s will, and his overall lack of concern for the murder in the film. All of these clues were the perfect puzzle pieces for audiences and helped guide the film along with the investigation. After all the twist in Knives Out isn’t dark—it’s clever, playful, and rooted in character.
But why do audiences love twists in film so much? Perhaps it’s that shock value and the feelings it leaves you with after it all comes crashing together. That satisfaction of finally having all the details and them all beautifully peacing together in some sort of twisted puzzle. It is addicting for viewers as it often calls for reinterpretation and makes them reconsider everything they thought they understood about the film. In the end, twist endings are one of the most thrilling tricks a movie can pull off. There’s something about that jaw-dropping moment that’s both surprising and satisfying, especially when you realize all the clues were there the whole time. They keep us on our toes, give us something to talk about long after the credits roll and remind us why we love being surprised by movies.
